Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) is the best thing on earth. The end.
And it’s otherworldly with beer and brown bread. This I know.
Yes, I also know that fresh is always better. But my spice cabinet begs to differ. And at 4:00 pm on a Sunday, it wins.
Here’s how you make Nakládaný hermelín.
Ingredients
A few rounds of Camembert
sliced garlic (2-3 cloves per cheese round)
rosemary
thyme
allspice
juniper berries (15 per whole cheese round)
equal parts pepper and sweet paprika
thinly sliced onions (including 1 red onion)
thinly sliced red and green bell peppers
bay leaves
vegetable oil (preferably sunflower oil)
Slice each round of cheese in half and scatter the garlic over each half. Next sprinkle over the rosemary, thyme, allspice, juniper, pepper, and sweet paprika. Close the rounds. Scatter a thin layer of onions, bell peppers, and bay leaves over the bottom of the jar. If the jar will fit a whole round of cheese, add it whole; if not, slice the cheese into halves or quarters (or whatever will fit) and add one layer. Add a few more slices of onion and bell pepper, and then cram in as much cheese as will fit without squishing beyond recognition. Submerge everything with sunflower oil, seal, and refrigerate for at least 48 hours. (Beware that refrigerated garlic in oil can lead to botulism if not consumed within a week.)
Aren’t recipes that end by warning with disease fun? Carpe diem!
To be honest, I’m a little worried now.
After all, this cheese is for the party that Megan’s throwing to celebrate the launch of our DailyLit projects.
Poisoning people at your launch party is simply not done in New York.
Or anywhere, really.
But it looks pretty spectacular, especially in those jars I took the Water Taxi to Brooklyn to get, this morning.
I love the Water Taxi.
At least it was a glorious day for a boat ride.
As I waited for the Water Taxi at Pier 11, and then in Red Hook, I realized how happy I am to be living in a city with a harbor, again. Maybe after The Big Launch Party Cheese Debacle, I’ll need to find another city with a harbor, in which to live anonymously.
Maybe I should’ve made bábovka.
13 comments
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October 12, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Cutie
Nooo, no babovka, nakladany hermelin is the best! (I think I have an addiction…:)
October 12, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Cutie
Noo, no babovka, nakladany hermelin is the best :)! I think that I have an addiction for it..
October 12, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Julie A
it looked wonderful however now I’m worried about leaving garlic and oil together in a jar. Is it ok to refrigerate garlic with your homemade pasta sauce?
October 12, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Erin
According to many, many Extension departments at universities across the country, no. Not for over a week, really. (Unless we’re talking about homemade sauce that’s been properly canned, pressurized, etc.)
As for the hermelin cheese, I have no idea how there’s never been any talk of botulism. Maybe there’s a built-in cultural immunity to it in the Czech Republic. :)
October 17, 2009 at 10:06 pm
racheld
Hello, Erin!!
I”m so glad to hear from you, and this spot is a real find!! Just the cheese recipe has my salivaries singing, and tomorrow I’m getting out all the spices in the rack and going in pursuit of several cheese rounds, if I have to make it in Tupperware. Is that sacrilege?
Looking forward to more,
rachel
October 18, 2009 at 11:10 am
Erin
Rachel, it’s great to catch up with you again. :) Sure, you can make this in Tupperware; next time, I might make it in old (clean) jam jars. The only thing I’d really avoid is raw garlic, unless you plan on consuming it super quickly. I used powdered garlic (which is certainly sacrilege) and it was fine.
October 20, 2009 at 1:00 am
Lisa
love the accompanying photography! Looks wonderful, and I think I must add several of these recipes to my culinary repertoire (which is quite small : (
I’m only starting to really cook now in my mid-twenties!)
October 20, 2009 at 8:35 am
Erin
Thanks, Lisa. :) My repertoire is pretty small, too; I usually just cook whatever’s fresh and in season. (Ok, in season at the grocery store, half the time.) Good ingredients get you 90% of the way there, I think…!
November 9, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Erin
Thanks, Lisa! :) (C’mon–if you have a repertoire, you’re ahead of most people!)
November 9, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Rebecca
Yum! How’d the cheese turn out?
November 9, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Erin
Great, actually! I might make more. :)
December 31, 2009 at 3:49 pm
kamran siddiqi
Ooh, I bet that cheese tasted phenomenal! Great post, Erin!
Happy New Year! :)
January 1, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Erin
It turned out pretty well! :) Happy New Year to you, too, Kamran!